Week 5

Monday: Took time in a relaxed fashion. Worked through Writing Idiomatic Python for 2 hrs. Started looking into Tkinter & Kivy. Tkinter seemed a bit more abstract to get into, so I went with Kivy … Had a small setup issue with Kivy & the Kivy Team helped me sort it on Twitter. We had an extra set of Presentations – It’s been interesting to see how many folks have been working on music projects. Still feel like I’m drifting a bit, and often feel like a bit of an outlier because I’m so new to programming. Trying to avoid thinking about post-RC life (2 months away). Primary Directive is to just keep exploring and not worry about if I’m making “Progress”

Tuesday: I attended the Vim workshop that Malko gave. That was The Most Exciting!! I’ve finally found something in programming that works the way my brain works – where you can just modify anything in any fashion. The actual mechanics of doing that are going to take some serious work, so now’s not the time to pick it up. But whenever I do, I’m really looking forward to it!! Also – Vim Adventures. Afterwards, I went to the Python Meetup & worked with my friend Piper on some Pygame stuff (Dirty Sprites, Collision Detection, Game Structure). That was so incredibly helpful. Also – I downloaded Crypt of the Necromancer – It’s adorably cute & fun & has a girl protagonist. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I’m pretty sure I want to make a rhythm game now!!

Wednesday: I started making actual progress with Kivy – got through their Pong & Paint tutorials – What a great way to start learning a library!! Actually, on that note – Kivy is WONDERFUL. The presentation of it is so well thought out & well-crafted. It’s simple to use, and simple to learn & very clearly explained. It’s such a relief after struggling with Pygame for so long. I don’t really know what its full capabilities are, and maybe I’ll even try using them in conjunction or something … But Kivy is Such A Joy.

Thursday: I basically spent the entire day working on Kivy. One of my favorite things is they clearly illustrate the Architecture of Kivy. I’ve been working through the guide on the website. Once I’m finished with it, I’m going to go back over the Pong & Paint Tutorials (and mess around with them), and then start trying to build my own programs & reading through the example programs & docs.

Current Reading:
Writing Idiomatic Python – Love this book
The Healthy Programmer – I’m going to have to reread and write up notes on this at some point
The War of Art

Inspired by The Healthy Programmer, I’ve been working in a few changes:
Eat more Fruit
Draw every day
Take standing breaks periodically – I should incorporate these with Maia’s idea of running up and down stairs during breaks.

The Future:
Try the Pomodoro Method
Edit the Sublime Text Settings (I lost these when I had to refresh my computer 2 weeks ago)
On a bittersweet note, the Spring 1 Batch is all finished up at the end of next week … a lot of people I’m going to miss!!

Reflection:
It’s really great to see how much I’ve grown, and how much more comfortable I am with myself – both as a coder and as a person. Also, how much more positivity there is in my life and mindset. One of the most exciting changes for me is that this is the first time (since realizing I’m trans a year ago) that I’ve felt really comfortable with my existence as a woman. This is the first space where I’ve known 100% that it’s completely natural and Safe. I don’t feel anxious when I go outside or walk into stores anymore. I don’t have to constantly worry if people parse my gender correctly – if they get what it means. It’s also a space where I’ve (finally) had room to just flounder a bit, and explore, and take care of things in a way that you just don’t get to do outside of here. While I’m still finding the world (and) myself as a programmer, I don’t have the same level of imposter syndrome over it anymore. My code literacy has improved, and my writing skills have improved slightly – It’s less foreign.

I feel like the current stage of my programming journey is represented by “The Circle of Life” from The Lion King